Liam Delaney of the Geary Institute at UCD, which carried out the research, said that people who have lost their jobs suffer a sense of grief and find it hard to keep their morale up.

He said that for many there is a sense of anger at the unfairness of the situation they find themselves in.

Mr Delaney said that the study indicates that the psychological effects on people who have been unemployed for over a year will mean they will find it difficult to re-enter the workforce when jobs do become available.

The researchers conducted 13 focus groups with unemployed people nationwide, including in areas where there had been large-scale lay-offs such as Limerick and Swords.